Conquering Autoimmune Disorders

Two alternative approaches offer hope to those suffering from chronic pain.

Fifty million Americans are afflicted with autoimmune disorders—a complex cluster of health problems that includes lupus, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and at least 80 others. It’s insulting to have your own immune system turn against you, and then adding to injury, patients must also deal with a medical maze as they fight vague and confusing symptoms. Anxiety, depression, headaches, indigestion—try narrowing those down. Once a diagnosis is made, conventional medicine offers immunosuppressant drugs. Two books out in January 2015 address autoimmune diseases with an entirely different approach, using less invasive strategies to heal the body.The Autoimmune Solution is by Dr. Amy Myers, an Austin-based physician who specializes in functional medicine and who herself dealt with an autoimmune disorder, Graves’ disease. Her book takes formidable medical concepts and terms—agglutinins, protein sequences, molecular mimicry—and digests them for laypeople into content that is actually readable: quizzes, metaphors, anecdotes, and diagrams. She takes us through four key steps: heali …

Spirituality & Health’s Wellness Editor, Kathryn Drury Wagner, is based in Savannah. She’s been a contributor to the magazine for many years, and she loves sharing ways to build a healthy, mindful, and sustainable lifestyle.